The Jazz singer who happens to be deaf to perform Feb. 21

FLORENCE — Mandy Harvey is the next electrifying performance SeaCoast Entertainment brings to the Florence Events Center at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, with a pre-concert talk at 6:15.

“You might recognize the name after all she is one of the winners of America’s Got Talent,” stated Karen Smales, vice-president SEAcoast Board. Mandy’s music is inspiring and supports her mission of encouraging others to break through their personal barriers. “I don’t want to be known for my disability,” Mandy says, adding that she is an ambassador to the advocacy group NO BARRIERS.

At the age of 4 Mandy began singing, pitch perfect, joining every choir she could find. At that same time, a series of bacterial ear infections ate away at her eardrums. Never able to pass a hearing test, doctors warned Mandy’s parents her hearing would always be impaired and she would probably lose her hearing in middle age. Sadly, the soundtrack of Harvey’s life went silent for good when she was a freshman music education student at Colorado State University.

After encouragement from her father, Mandy came back to singing. On a whim, she signed up for an open-mic night at a Fort Collins club. She figured what was the worst thing that could happen? If she were to sound awful she would never know! She sang “My Funny Valentine” to the audience of six, clutching the side of the piano in terror. Management asked her back.

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Mandy Harvey finds tempo by feeling the vibrations in the floor. She never lets on to her audience that she is deaf, although she signs the lyrics as she sings. From the first note Mandy stuns her audience as she glides pitch-perfect breathy jazz to growling blues!

Tickets are on sale now at the FEC Box Office or the Seacoast Entertainment Website www.seacoastea.org, prices are $32 for adults or $10 for students under 18.

Seacoast Entertainment Association is an all volunteer 501 (c)(3) non-profit which has been bringing entertainment to the Oregon Coast since 1980.